Abstract
Researchers in marketing ethics have identified the importance of cognitive moral development (CMD) in marketing ethics models. This study looks at selected correlates of role conflict and role ambiguity in marketing, especially the mediating role of CMD. Of the correlates examined, the results seem to support the existence of statistically significant relationships between CMD and role conflict and ambiguity. Implications for practitioners are provided. For example, the study could have direct implications for management personnel who have the responsibility of hiring ethical people and helping them address any role conflict or ambiguity that may arise from their job.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bebeau, Muriel J., James R. Rest, and Catherine M. Yamoor. 1985. “Measuring Dental Students’ Ethical Sensitivity.”Journal of Dental Education 49 (4): 225–235.
Biddle, Bruce J. and Edwin J. Thomas, eds. 1966.Role Theory: Concepts and Research. New York: John Wiley.
Blasi, Augusto. 1980. “Bridging Moral Cognition and Moral Action: A Critical Review of the Literature.”Psychological Bulletin 88 (1): 1–45.
Bommer, Michael, Clarence Gratto, Jerry Gravander, and Mark Tuttle. 1987. “A Behavioral Model of Ethical and Unethical Decision Making.”Journal of Business Ethics 6 (May): 265–280.
Christie, Richard and Florence L. Geis. 1970.Studies in Machiavellianism. New York: Academic Press.
Churchill, Gilbert A., Jr., Neil M. Ford, and Orville C. Walker, Jr. 1993.Sales Force Management. Boston: Irwin.
Colby, Anne, Lawrence Kohlberg, John Gibbs, and Marcus Lieberman. 1983. “A Longitudinal Study of Moral Judgment.”Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 48 (1–2): Serial No. 200.
Dubinsky, Alan J. and Barbara Loken. 1989. “Analyzing Ethical Decision Making in Marketing.”Journal of Business Research 19: 83–107.
Ferrell, O. C. and Larry G. Gresham. 1985. “A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing.”Journal of Marketing 49 (Summer): 87–96.
—————, —————, and John Fraedrich. 1989. “A Synthesis of Ethical Decision Models for Marketing.”Journal of Macromarketing 9 (Fall): 55–64.
Forsyth, Donelson R. 1980. “A Taxonomy of Ethical Ideologies.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39 (1): 175–184.
————— and William R. Pope. 1984. “Ethical Ideology and Judgments of Social Psychological Research: Multidimensional Analysis.”Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46 (6): 1365–1375.
Gibbs, John C. and Keith F. Widaman. 1982.Social Intelligence: Measuring the Development of Sociomoral Reflection. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Gilligan, Carol. 1982.In a Different Voice: Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Goolsby, Jerry R., and Shelby D. Hunt. 1992. “Cognitive Moral Development and Marketing.”Journal of Marketing 56 (January): 55–68.
Gross, Neal, Ward S. Mason, and Alexander W. McEachern. 1958.Explorations in Role Analysis. New York: John Wiley.
Hegarty, W. Harvey and Henry P. Sims. 1978. “Some Determinants of Unethical Decision Behavior: An Experiment.”Journal of Applied Psychology 63 (4): 451–457.
————— and —————. 1979. “Organizational Philosophy, Policies, and Objectives Related to Unethical Decision Behavior: A Laboratory Experiment.”Journal of Applied Psychology 64 (3): 331–338.
Hunt, Shelby D. and Lawrence B. Chonko. 1984. “Marketing and Machiavellianism.”Journal of Marketing 48 (Summer): 30–42.
————— and Scott J. Vitell. 1986. “A General Theory of Marketing Ethics.”Journal of Macromaketing 6 (Spring): 5–16.
————— and —————. 1993. “A General Theory of Marketing Ethics: A Retrospective and Revision.” InEthics in Marketing. Eds. John A. Quelch and Graig Smith. Chicago: Irwin, 775–784.
Jones, Thomas M. 1991. “Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model.”Academy of Management Review 16 (2): 366–395.
Kahn, R., D. Wolfe, R. Quinn, J. Snoek, and R. Rosenthal. 1964.Organizational Stress: Studies in Role Conflict and Ambiguity. New York: John Wiley.
Katz, David and Robert L. Kahn. 1978.The Social Psychology of Organizations. 2d ed. New York: John Wiley.
Kohlberg, Lawrence. 1968. “Early Education: A Cognitive-Developmental View.”Child Development 39 (4): 1013–1062.
—————. 1969. “Stage and Sequence: The Cognitive Developmental Approach to Socialization.” InHandbook of Socialization Theory and Research. Ed. D. A. Goslin. Chicago: Rand McNally, 347–480.
—————. 1976. “Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach.” InMoral Development and Behavior: Theory, Research, and Social Issues. Ed. Thomas Lickona. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 31–53.
Michaels, Ronald E. and Andrea L. Dixon. 1994. “Sellers and Buyers on the Boundary: Potential Moderators of Role Stress-Job Outcome Relationships.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 22 (Winter): 62–73.
Penn, William Y. and Boyd D. Collier. 1985. “Current Research in Moral Development as a Decision Support System.”Journal of Business Ethics 4 (April): 131–136.
Piaget, Jean. 1932.The Moral Judgment of the Child. Trans. Marjorie Gabain. Edinburgh, UK: The Edinburgh Press.
Rest, James R. 1979.Development in Judging Moral Issues. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
————— 1983. “Morality.” InCognitive Development: Manual of Child Psychology, vol. 3. Eds. J. Flavell and E. Markman. New York: John Wiley, 556–629.
————— 1984. “The Major Components of Morality.” InMorality, Moral Behavior and Moral Development. Eds. W. M. Kurtines and J. L. Gerwitz. New York: John Wiley, 24–38.
————— 1986a.DIT Manual. 3d ed. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
————— 1986b.Moral Development: Advances in Research and Theory. New York: Praeger.
Rizzo, John R., Robert J. House, and Sidney I. Lirtzman. 1970. “Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Complex Organizations.”Administrative Science Quarterly 15: 150–163.
Sager, Jeffrey K. 1994. “A Structural Model Depicting Salespeople’s Job Stress.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 22 (Winter): 74–84.
Schlenker, Barry R. and Donelson R. Forsyth. 1977. “On the Ethics of Psychological Research.”Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 13: 369–396.
Singhapakdi, Anusorn and Scott J. Vitell. 1990. “Marketing Ethics: Factors Influencing Perceptions of Ethical Problems and Alternative.”Journal of Macromarketing 10 (Spring): 4–18.
————— and —————. 1991. “Research Note: Selected Factors Influencing Marketers’ Deontological Norms.”Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 19 (Winter): 37–42.
Strong, Kelly C. and Dale G. Meyer. 1992. “An Integrative Descriptive Model of Ethical Decision Making.”Journal of Business Ethics 11 (February): 89–94.
Thoma, Stephen J. 1985. “On Improving the Relationship Between Moral Reasoning and External Criteria: The Utilizer/Nonutilizer Dimension.” Dissertation. University of Minnesota.
————— and Mark L. Davison. 1983. “Moral Reasoning Development and Graduate Education.”Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology 4 (April): 227–238.
Trevino, Linda Klebe. 1986. “Ethical Decision Making in Organizations: A Person-Situation Interactionist Model.”Academy of Management Review 11 (3): 601–617.
————— and Stuart A. Youngblood. 1990. “Bad Apples in Bad Barrels: A Causal Analysis of Ethical Decision-Making Behavior.”Journal of Applied Psychology 75 (4): 378–385.
Weber, James. 1990. “Managers’ Moral Reasoning: Assessing Their Responses to Three Moral Dilemmas.”Human Relations 43 (7): 687–702.
Wotruba, Thomas R. 1990. “A Comprehensive Framework for the Analysis of Ethical Behavior, With a Focus on Sales Organizations.”Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 10 (Spring): 29–42.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
He received his Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Mississippi. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Business Ethics, theJournal of Pharmaceutical Marketing and Management, theJournal of Marketing Theory and Practice, theJournal of Promotion Management, Health Marketing Quarterly, and various national proceedings.
He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Texas Tech University. His work has previously appeared in theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Macromarketing, theJournal of Business Ethics, International Marketing Review, theJournal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and various other journals and proceedings.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. His research has previously appeared in theJournal of Marketing Research and numerous other journals and proceedings.
He received his Ph.D. in marketing from Florida State University. His research has been published in theJournal of Business Research, theJournal of Marketing Management, and in various proceedings.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ho, F.N., Vitell, S.J., Barnes, J.H. et al. Ethical correlates of role conflict and ambiguity in marketing: The mediating role of cognitive moral development. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 25, 117–126 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02894347
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02894347